


Just Like Heaven

by profdreamer



Series: Just Like Heaven [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Oh god am I actually doing this, Pre-Relationship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-10 21:14:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10447653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profdreamer/pseuds/profdreamer
Summary: The salty breeze will sing to me, and bring me back to you.My dreams, my love, my strength, my heart,My stars, my sun, my moon._________________If you want fluff, tension, smooches, a hearty dose of the 'friends to lovers' trope, lots of silly conversations, and a pair of professors who are too dumb and nervous to put the moves on each other...*Will Smith poses at this fic*





	1. That mug is for coffee only!

“ _The friction on my skin is somewhat painful,”_ Burnet discovered as she slowly sank to the floor, her back burning a bit from rubbing against the wall. “ _That’s odd. I thought the bodysuit would have a lot less resistance?”_

She filed the information away into the section of her brain that stored potentially useful observations, which she always pictured as residing somewhere between _thought experiments that use frictionless vacuums_ and _interesting material applications_. 

Hey, you never know when an insignificant observation might turn into an idea for your next nifty research device!

Or not.

She blew the white bangs out of her face, reached into her bag, and fired off a quick text:

> Won’t be home in time for dinner. Don’t worry about making enough for me. I can fend for myself again.

It took less than two seconds for the chat to explode with objections. She winced. 

> u haven’t been home before four am all week how are you even alive right now
> 
> This isn’t healthy, Burnet!!!!! 
> 
> listen to fennel! she has your best interests at heart
> 
> Thanks babe >:P
> 
> its the truth. youve gotta get rest and you have to eat something that isnt burnt lab coffee or a vending machine special
> 
> Guys, I’ll be fine. I’ll order myself a REAL pizza with my REAL phone and very REAL money.
> 
> thank arceus you have money otherwise wed have to kick your butt out. no more movie nights for u  
> 
> JUNIPER!
> 
> I’m getting the pizza as we speak. I just smashed that order button.
> 
> dammit burnet now i want pizza
> 
> Me too! :O
> 
> fine. pizza for the entire roomie squad then. but dont think youre off the hook for sleep
> 
> I promise to sleep.
> 
> …
> 
> More than two hours! 
> 
> …more than two hours. I promise. I gotta go, but I’ll be home by one.

Burnet returned her phone to her trusty bag before unceremoniously stuffing her goggles in after it. She stretched, and lithely sank the rest of the way to the floor. She rolled onto her back and folded her hands over her stomach, staring at the flickering overhead lights in the dim office that doubled as her lab space. 

“45 minutes until pizza time,” she muttered, lightly drumming her fingers against the orange stripes on her stomach. It grumbled in response with almost comedic timing.  

“Shut up. It’ll be here soon.” 

She sighed and tried to push back the creeping feeling in her gut. 

Pretending it was only hunger would only work for so long. 

_“It makes no sense.”_  

_“I don't understand the practical applications of this one.”_

_“We can’t approve it at this time. I’m sorry.”_

Burnet groaned and covered her wan face. 

“Frick.” she muttered darkly. 

Being a freshly graduated scientist sucks.

“They’re right,” the freshly graduated scientist grumbled. “I need a break. It’s just too bad I won’t get one. At least until certain people start having some faith in me.”

She widened her eyes and solemnly added “…or maybe it’s me who needs to have faith in myself!” 

She giggled. 

“Hashtag number one scientist! It says so on my freaking mug! Maybe I need to bring it in so I can drink from it while maintaining eye contact with my adversaries. That’s a power move.”  

She huffed. 

“Someone would probably swipe it. Mugs are constantly getting swiped around here.” 

Her stomach rumbled again. 

“Pizza time?” she asked, checking the clock on the wall. Still broken as of last month. She dug in her bag for her phone. Ten more minutes. 

“Ten more minutes of pure suc-“ 

KNOCK, KNOCK.

In a black, gray and orange blur, Burnet was in her computer chair and pretending to be engrossed with her phone.

(And assuredly NOT talking to herself while sprawled out on the floor).

“COME IN!”

Her door cracked open. 

“Oh hey, I uh, hoped I’d find you in here!” 

A scientist with salt and pepper hair and thick glasses poked his head into the room. His oversized lab coat crackled with static as a magneton hovered over his shoulder. 

“Hi, Mulaney. Whatcha up to?” 

The scientist waggled his eyebrows. “Delivering good news to you!” 

“For once. Good news? Or REALLY good news?” 

“Excellent news. The best news.” 

“Okay, okay, you have my interest,” Burnet laughed, crossing her legs and resting her cheek on her palm with a smug grin. “Spill it!” 

“There’s a conference that Ross wants one of us to attend. She feels a little bit guilty about how ragged you’ve been run the past few months, so she said she wants to offer it to you first.” 

He smiled and held out a small pile of papers. 

“The itinerary and requisition forms. It should be really interesting. Lots of that dimensional stuff you like.”

He leaned in towards her and whispered conspiratorially:

“And it’s being held in Alola. Three days of lectures, and three days of vacation included. If you don’t take it immediately, someone else probably will!” 

Her heart skipped a beat.

“Oh! Uhh…yeah, I’ll definitely go!” she said, grabbing the papers and stuffing them in her overflowing bag. “I’ll fill them out tonight and get ‘em to Ross in the morning!”  

Mulaney grinned proudly.

“Atta girl.”

“I haven’t been a girl for a very, very long time.”

“Sorry, sorry. That was disrespectful.”

“I’m an old woman, Mulaney.” 

He laughed. “Yes. I forgot that twenty nine is ancient to ya youngins. “

“I‘m going to be thirty in December, Mulaney!” 

He laughed again. “Thirty is young. Anyway, it’s late. Gotta head home.”

He finger gunned at her.  

“Congrats!” 

The door gently clicked shut after him. 

Burnet stared into nothingness for a moment before covering her reddening face with her hands. 

Oh no. Oh no no no no…

“I’ve spent months trying to get over it.” She whimpered into her hands. 

_“But you might get to see one of your best friends again. Isn’t that great?”_

_“Yeah, except for…”_

_“Except for what?”_

_“I don’t wanna say it.”_

_“Oh come on!”_

_“Nope. Not even to myself.”_

_“Ugh, whatever. The two of you used to be so close. When’s the last time you talked?”_

_“…too long ago.”_

_“And you miss it.”_

_“…”_

_“What’s the big deal? Don’t be a coward.”_

_“But…”_

_“But what, Burnet? But what?”_

_“RRGGHHHHHHH!"_  

Before she had a chance to become even more of a flustered mess, her pizza arrived.

 

* * *

  

When Burnet returned home it was at three A.M., and it was to Juniper pointing angrily at the kitchen clock, and Fennel sleepily drinking tea from a mug that read #1 SCIENTIST.

 


	2. Make your move while you still can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burnet's ridiculous self-inflicted suffering continues.

Burnet stared at her phone. 

_Do it._

She drummed her fingers on her thigh and swallowed. 

_Do it._

Her phone sat on the fluffy plaid blanket, taunting her. She shifted a bit, her bed creaking slightly under her weight.

_Do it._

“Maybe he’s busy. Maybe the conference isn’t even on the same island. Which one did he move to? It’s definitely not the same one.” 

_Do. It._

“Melemele? And I’m going to be on…” she checked her itinerary and maps, “Akala. Hano Grand Resort. I dunno. These islands look pretty far from each other. Maybe I shouldn’t bother.” 

_DO. IT._

She swallowed and picked up her phone. Her thumb scrolled down her contacts list, her hands shaking more and more until she hit K. 

She had only one K contact. 

The icon beamed at up her with that grin, that killer sunny grin that destroyed her every time, and her stomach flipped. She was present in the full picture, but mostly cropped out of the icon version. All she could see of herself was a shock of white hair, and her shoulder, which was draped in a navy blue graduation robe. The subject was about a head taller than her, and also in a navy robe. A beautiful garland of flowers hung around his neck, and his dark eyes sparkled warmly. In the full version they were both posing the same way, making quasi finger guns and grinning matching sideways grins. 

She had stared at that picture more times than she liked to admit. 

* * *

“Say professors! Woo!”

She laughed loudly. 

“PROFESSORS!”  
“Professors!” 

KA-CLICK! 

“Cute!” Fennel squealed as she checked the picture she’d taken on Burnet’s phone before quickly snapping an identical photo on a second device. Her long black hair swished as she twirled and handed the phones back to their owners. 

Burnet grinned at the picture. “Wow we actually look kinda awesome! Come on Juniper, you sure you don’t want in on this? You don’t want one last pic of the graduating squad?” 

“Nah, the three of us already got a few good shots before we marched! Also, I still need to take a few selfies with little miss ‘one more year to go’ over here. Also, also, I’ve had my picture taken way too much today in general.” 

“Fine!” Burnet laughed before turning to the man to compare their pictures, missing the huge wink Juniper gave to Fennel behind her back. 

“Mine is better. You’re about to blink in yours.” she teased, peering over his muscular arm at his phone. 

“You look more awesome in mine, though. That makes it better overall.” He teased back, grinning down at her. 

She cackled lightly and poked his arm. “You’re right. I’m smiling really weird and it makes me look like a mad scientist or something.” 

“Actually, that makes it super appropriate, yeah?” 

She cackled again as she dug a bottle of water out of her bag. “Yup. That’s definitely me!”

“Mad scientist is a cute look on you anyway,” he commented offhandedly, before freezing and clearing his throat a bit. 

Over the years he had called her cute exactly five times. She was sure they were all accidental and meant nothing (good friends call each other cute all the time, right?), but she had them all memorized nonetheless. 

Every single time it happened, she managed to embarrass herself somehow. 

And time number five involved a close call with a spit take. 

She hacked and coughed as people in the crowd glanced over to see a concerned man gently patting a woman on the back who was entrenched in a violent coughing fit. 

“Wrong pipe,” she wheezed before giving a shaky thumbs up. “I’m totally fine.” 

“You sure?” He asked, his hand resting on her upper back. 

“Yep! See? Breathing normally now!” 

He only turned away from her when his phone buzzed in his pocket… 

…only to narrowly avoid a coughing fit of his own. 

“Everything okay?” Burnet asked.

“Oh yeah! It’s nothing. Fennel just said something silly.” 

He avoided her eyes.

“Okay, now I really need to know.” 

He winced and hesitantly held up his phone, still on the lock screen, and text still visible.

> I think you need to give her CPR

Burnet had a tendency to flush pretty easily, but up to that point he had never seen red actually reach her ears.

“I’m gonna kill her,” she whispered.

Before she had a chance to turn redder or declare all out war on her roommate, her phone buzzed. She took the opportunity to avoid her friend’s eyes while she dug it out and glanced at her lock screen. 

She pursed her lips.

“What is it?”

“Just…Juniper being silly.” she glanced anywhere but at her friend, letting her phone fall into her bag with a thunk. She turned towards him, still not making eye contact with anything but the delicate flowers that hung around his neck. 

“So…Melemele, huh?” 

* * *

Burnet gulped and closed her eyes.

“You used to call him all the time. This isn’t any different. It’s just him.”

Breathe. 

In, out. In, out. 

**_Kukui:_ ** _calling mobile…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the first few chapters are so short, I decided to just post chapter two today hahaha
> 
> And yep, if you're wondering, the pose they're doing for the picture is this: https://archive-media.nyafuu.org/vp/image/1473/30/1473303113386.png. They have matching poses in official art. I can't handle it. 
> 
> I'll post chapter three on Tuesday, and four and five next weekend. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Have a great week! *Finger guns*


	3. Smooth moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kukui attempts to be smooth, and Burnet screams.

“COME ON, COME ON, COME ON! GIVE IT YER BEST SHOT!” Kukui bounced in place, bristling with energy, waiting for the ninetales to make her move. 

She mirrored his bouncing for a moment before freezing and shyly pawing at the ground. 

“What’s the matter, girl?” he asked, reaching out to pat the soft fur on her head, “Still nervous?” 

She barked in reply, spinning in a circle and laying in the sand at the professor’s feet. She flicked her flowing tails and stared up at his face, blinking slowly. 

“Blizzard takes a lot of energy, yeah?”

She whined a bit.

“You’ll get it. Sometimes you have to be brave and just…go for it!”

The fox looked out at the sea before turning to nudge the professor’s hand. 

“Hold on, did ya hear that?”

Kukui paused and tilted his head. A faint ringing on the sea breeze seemed to be coming from the lab. 

“You’re gonna have to give me a quick sec. Practice on your own. I think I might be the one making ya nervous!”

He pointed towards a massive pile of seaweed on the shore with his thumb. 

“Try freezing that heap while I see who it is? I’ll BRB, little buddy!”

Kukui lightly jogged into the lab. His lab! Every time he entered his digs, he couldn't believe he was fortunate enough to own it. Well…technically the regional professor owned it. 

_And who has two thumbs and is the new alolan regional professor?_

He removed his snapback and glanced at his wall of monitors. He’d managed to hook them up to make and receive video calls on his cell’s number, so everything was neatly synched. 

When he realized who was calling, he just about bulldozed every piece of furniture in his way to dive over and smack the answer button. 

“Oh, um…hello? Ku-Kukui?”

_“Play it cool, play it cool…”_

He nonchalantly ran a hand over his long, dark hair to smooth it, and crossed his arms over his bare chest. He grinned and casually leaned against his computer chair, which promptly rolled and dumped him onto the floor with a loud thunk.

“Heya, Burnet.” he muttered from the ground. 

Silence. 

“PFF. PFFTT. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Kukui briefly wondered how difficult it would be to join the witness protection program. 

“I meant to do that,” he groaned, slowly rising back into view. 

On the monitor was his old friend, loosing her absolute mind with laughter. Her thick, wavy, pale hair was down from its usual ponytail, and she was in an oversized green sweater. She was also wearing glasses instead of her usual contacts or prescription goggles. Overall, she looked comfy as hell. 

_“And adorable.”_

Kukui shook his head to clear it and started laughing too, despite himself. 

“That was amazing,” Burnet finally choked out. “That could have been in a movie.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Kukui huffed, brushing himself off as he carefully seated himself in the offending chair. His wide smile betrayed nothing besides a slight residual embarrassment.

“Soooo…” he drew out, tapping his fingers on his desk. 

He smiled even wider.

“It’s really good to see you.”

His friend finally stopped laughing. She opened her mouth and closed it again. 

“OH. It’s. Ahhh…well, maybe it might be sooner. I might see you soon, I mean. If you want I’d love you to see me CRAP I mean I’m going to…well, there’s a thing…”

“Wait, what?” 

Burnet groaned and lightly smacked her forehead with her free hand.

“I’m sorry, I just haven’t seen or talked to you in forever and…”

Kukui laughed and held up his hands to stop her. “It’s okay, It’s okay, don’t apologize, we’re both hella busy! But I have no idea what you’re trying to say, so can ya start over?” 

Burnet wordlessly held up a plane ticket. 

Kukui squinted and rolled a bit closer to read it…

And let out a deafening whoop.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” he cheered, spinning circles in his chair. “ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS??? YOU’RE COMING???”

“It’s actually for a conference, and it’s being held on Akala so I dunno how far-“ 

“I sail to Akala all the time! It’s not far!” 

“Well, I don’t want to bother you if-“

“I make my own schedule and I’m past due for a vacation.” 

Burnet blinked. 

“So, what you’re saying…”

“Gimme some dates and let me know if you want someone to show you around Alola in your free time.” 

Her excited smile almost made his heart stop. 

* * *

 

Kukui waved goodbye as Burnet flickered off of the screen.

He slowly rose from his chair before flopping onto the couch, limbs dangling haphazardly, with a huge goofy grin on his flushed face.

_“She’s so cute…”_

* * *

 

Several time zones away, a pale haired scientist vented her feelings by violently screaming into a pillow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I lied about waiting until Tuesday to post. I told a boldfaced fricking lie. 
> 
> As every chapter went by, and as I got used to writing these two, I kept having more and more fun. I think it kinda shows. You can kinda see me slowly breaking out of my rustiness with writing, too. All that matters is that I'm having so much fun with this. I hope you are too! 
> 
> Next chapter will be Wednesday unless I get antsy again! Later, gators! *finger guns*


	4. Thanks for everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juniper offers to wingman and Burnet's room gets tidied af.

Thump. 

Burnet tossed her suitcase onto her bed and smacked it open. 

“Okay, three full days of lectures and three full days of vacation somewhere very warm. A few tank tops, underwear, socks, bathing suit, pjs, a sports bra, a good bra, a few t-shirts, a sweatshirt, shorts, a skirt, leggings, a professional dressy outfit, a lab coat just in case, and a bodysuit, also just in case.”

She drummed her fingers against her lips in thought. 

“Toiletries, medicine, some light makeup, those green flats I can wear with anything, and a pair of comfortable sandals I can just wear on the plane.” 

It was a lot, but fortunately she made it all fit in the one extra large suitcase. 

Just as she was zipping it up, a light tapping on her open door broke her concentration. 

“Knock knock.”

Juniper smiled from the doorway, crossing her arms as she leaned on the frame. A minccino hopped onto her shoulder and peered eagerly into Burnet’s slightly dusty room. 

“All packed?” 

“Yep! I just need to double check that I have everything in my work bag and I’m done.”

“Don’t forget your tablet. It’s on the coffee table in the living room.”

“SHOOT, thank you, thank you, that would’ve been bad!” 

Juniper held out the tablet with a grin. The minccino grabbed it to quickly dust off some fingerprints before leaping across the room to deposit the device in Burnet’s hands. 

“You’re both perfect,” Burnet groaned, tossing it into her bag.  


“We know,” her friend laughed. “Remember the charger, too. Anyway…I set my alarm for four. Fennel said she wants to come too, so you’ll have both of us to bring you there and see you off.” 

“Yaaayyy. Four A.M.”

Juniper made a gagging motion with her finger and laughed with Burnet. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll stop for caffeine on the way.” 

“Completely necessary. Thanks so much, by the way.” 

“Any time. It’s the weekend and you’ve done it it for me what…about a zillion times?”

“True.” 

“After we drop ya off, I’m taking my girl on a nice breakfast date. We haven’t done that in a long time!” 

“Sweet, that sounds great! Enjoy having the apartment to yourselves.” 

Juniper waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, we WILL.” 

Burnet cackled. “Good. GOOD.” 

Juniper laughed with her before quieting and cocking her head to the side thoughtfully. 

“You’ve got that look on your face that you get when you wanna have real talk,” Burnet said, sitting on her bed and patting it, “Spill, Aurea.” 

Juniper sighed and joined her. “I don’t want to be invasive or nosy.” 

“It’s fine. Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh no, no, no,” Juniper put up her hands, “Nothing’s wrong at all!”

She paused, thinking.

“Do you…do you remember when Fennel and I started dating?” 

“Yeah, we were still in the dorms!” 

“Well…do you remember how you were basically the reason Fennel went through with asking me out? How you gave her the courage to do it?” 

Burnet grinned, “It wasn't a problem. I didn’t even really do anything. She just needed someone to talk to.” 

“Well…” Juniper picked at the lint on Burnet’s blanket, “Exactly.” 

“Huh?” 

Juniper glanced up and locked eyes with her friend. 

“The three of us have always been good at trading favors. That’s all I want you to remember. If you need help doing something kinda scary…if you need courage to do it…”

The tall woman bopped Burnet on the nose with a finger. 

“We’ll both be around to listen.” 

Burnet silently twiddled her thumbs. 

Juniper got up, brushed the lint off of her lap, and smiled. 

“I’m gonna get some sleep! I’ll see you in the morning.” 

She kissed Burnet on the forehead.

“Sweet dreams!” 

“Ha. Ha. Haaaaaaa.”

Juniper scooped up the protesting minccino (who had been sweeping at the lint), and saluted her sheepish roommate before turning to leave.

“Nighty!” 

She shut the door after her. 

Burnet silently double checked her packed bags before turning off the lights and cuddling into her warm blankets. 

She reached for her phone. Her face glowed in the darkness as she scrolled and typed. 

She sent a quick text before locking the device and rolling over to try and get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I continue to be a dirty little liar about my update schedule. 
> 
> To be real, though, I'll probably only jump the gun like this for the next few chapters. They're short, which is part of the rationale I have for just posting 'em daily for a bit. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Enjoy! *Finger guns*


	5. The Interdream interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting pretty intense in the Interdream Zone.

Burnet wound up and slammed her book onto the table with a mighty bang, rattling the studying supplies and startling Kukui and Juniper, who had been quietly working opposite of her. 

“I can’t take this anymore,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “I need out of this library. I need a walk.” 

“What’s wrong?” Juniper asked, eyes widening theatrically.

“I’m just…I…I don’t know how much more I can read before my eyes fall out. I need a walk.” 

“May I join you?” Kukui asked, leaning forward and winking. “A walk sounds nice.” 

Burnet bit her lip and lightly brushed her fingertips up and down her shoulder.

“Of course. Let’s go, studmuffin.” 

She reached out and grabbed his hand to drag him off, leaving a completely gobsmacked Juniper in their wake. She stared after them with her mouth hanging open. 

“Holy crap. That was awesome.”

* * *

 

They strolled hand-in-hand down empty walkways, through empty campus gardens, and across crunchy fall leaves. Their breath seemed to puff out and swirl in beautiful pearlescent colors in the chill night air. They only stopped when they reached a secluded corner between two lecture hall buildings. 

“Looks like we’re the only people left on campus.” Burnet whispered. 

“Fine by me,” Kukui said, turning to her and slowly removing his glasses.

He grinned. 

“Have I ever told you that I think you’re the hottest woman I’ve ever met and I, like, totally wanna make out with you?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

He leaned in with a smirk. She reached out and slowly walked her fingers up his warm, bare chest, a smug grin on her face. 

He shivered. 

“You’re interested too, yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

In one fluid movement, he picked her up by the hips and gently pushed her against an ivy covered brick wall. She reflexively threw her arms over his shoulders and tightened her legs around his waist. 

He growled. 

“If you want it come and get it, Burnet.” 

In a flash her hands were in his long dark hair and she was completely unhinged, moaning against his lips while they frantically rocked against each other. 

“Burnet,” he gasped, dipping his head to kiss at the soft spot under her ear. She whimpered in reply. 

“Burnet,” he hissed against her neck, dragging his lips across her pulse point. She cried out a bit louder and clutched at him even harder. 

“Burnet, honey, I’ve wanted you for so long,” he whispered, nibbling on her exposed shoulder. 

She stiffened at that and sighed. 

“I wish that were true,” she murmured into his ear. “I’m asleep, aren’t I?” 

Kukui pulled away from her shoulder and slowly let her go. She hopped to the ground. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered sadly. 

“It’s okay,” she leaned up on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek and tuck a wavy piece of hair behind his ear. “It was really nice. I had fun.”

“Are you gonna wake yourself up now?” 

“Yeah. I shouldn't make a habit of this, and I need to be up early, anyway.” 

Kukui smiled sadly as everything around them began to shift and break apart like objects disappearing in a fog. 

“Bye, Kukui.” 

He waved and managed to wink at her. 

“Bye, honey.” 

Burnet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She raised her hand and counted down on her fingers with her thumb, taking deep, slow breaths for every number. 

“Five…four…three…two…”

Her eyes opened into total darkness, her phone alarm softly ringing and buzzing in her ear. 

“One.” she whispered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOY. 
> 
> That happened. 
> 
> Please don't kill me too hard for the "it was only a dream?!!?!?!?" thing ahahaha. Come on, Burnet's whole thing is dreams. I had to sneak in at least one. 
> 
> So this is the first of a few scenes that are gonna shove this thing into E territory. I know this was really tame, but...err...it's mild compared to what's coming down the pike. 
> 
> The day I post...THAT chapter I am going to be a flustered mess, I stg. 
> 
> Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and have a great day! Chapter six will be Friday or Saturday. Cya! 
> 
> *Finger guns*


	6. Welcome to paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kukui spins Burnet right round, baby, right round like a record, baby, right round, round, round...

“Can I get one coffee, black, another with an extra shot of espresso, chocolate, and coconut milk, and one tea with moomoo, all larges, please?” 

“PLEASE, COFFEE PERSON, WE’RE DYING.” 

“Okay, so I’ve got a large black coffee, a large coffee with an espresso shot, chocolate syrup, and coconut milk, and a large tea with regular moomoo.” 

Fennel whimpered from the passenger seat; “Please, I need it.” 

“Yeah, that’s right!” Juniper chirped, gently shushing Fennel’s outbursts with her free hand.

“I’ll have your total at the window. Pull around.”

“Thhhaannnnkkssss,” Juniper drawled, her hand still covering Fennel’s mouth. In the back seat Burnet was barely awake, her forehead resting on Fennel’s seat back.

“Coffee,” she muttered as Juniper pulled the car around.

“You are both completely useless in the morning,” Juniper laughed, inching her jeep around a sharp curve.

“S’because we’re both dream researchers,” Burnet mumbled from the back seat. “We’re night hoothoots.” 

“You’re both my dreamy little hoothoots,” Juniper said as she paid for the caffeine load and started handing out steaming cups of awakening.

“And you’re our morning fletchling,” Fennel sighed as she inhaled the steam and took her first sip.

“Oh thank you, thank you,” Burnet moaned, clutching the warm drink with both hands like a sableye with a precious gem. She took a long swig and sighed happily. 

Juniper laughed. “You’re both so cute.”

Fennel and Burnet sleepily objected to being called cute as they flew down the highway towards the airport.

 

* * *

 

“Do you have both bags?” 

“Suitcase and purse. Check.” 

“Your phone, wallet, work tablet, and ticket?”

“In my purse.” 

Fennel grinned and bouncily hugged her friend. 

“See you next Saturday, then,” she murmured into Burnet’s shoulder. She let go. 

“I have to get back to the car so we don’t get yelled at for taking up a five minute space. Have a safe trip!”

“Thanks,” Burnet shrugged her shoulder to reposition her bag, “Tell Juniper thanks for me, too. Again.” 

“Will do!” 

Fennel turned to leave and hesitated.

“Oh, one more thing,” she said, looking over her shoulder. 

She smiled. 

“Juniper told me she talked to you last night. I just wanna remind you that her offer is always open. With both of us. Just text or call us if you freak out.”

She raised an eyebrow. 

“You know exactly who and what I’m talking about.” 

Before Burnet could react, Fennel was halfway across the terminal, waving goodbye as she ran off in a swirl of black hair. 

 

* * *

 

The caffeine buzz lasted long enough for Burnet to watch a gorgeous sunrise from her window seat. She fell asleep as puffy white clouds glowed over golden fields in the morning sun.

 

* * *

 

Kukui paced up and down the bright hallway, hands behind his back and brow furrowed. A rockruff followed his movements, the sound of his tapping nails echoing alongside his human’s footsteps. 

“I hope she likes it here, Rocky.” Kukui said, playing with the flower garland in his hands. “I’m super excited, but wow. I haven’t seen her in almost a year.” 

He swallowed and stopped pacing. The rockruff stopped with him and eagerly rubbed his scratchy neck against Kukui’s legs. 

The man laughed and picked up the small dog. 

“Ouch! Thanks, buddy, but ouch!” he cuddled his canine friend to his chest before returning him to the floor. “Feels a lot better now, though! Mentally, I mean!”

The airport intercom crackled. 

“Now arriving; Flight 1018 from Unova at gate 14A. Flight 1018 from Unova at gate 14A.” 

Kukui glanced up and grinned. 

“She’s here!” 

He sprinted for the gate, rockruff in hot pursuit.

 

* * *

 

“I am getting so old.” Burnet muttered, doing her best to stretch her back as she filed into the terminal with the other passengers. 

“Tell me about it, kiddo,” a random old lady grumbled good naturally as she queued behind Burnet, who laughed in reply.

Burnet rolled her shoulders as she walked, willing the kink in her neck to loosen. As she cleared the gate, she glanced up and froze. 

Racing towards her was a tan man in a snapback, glasses, a long open lab coat that trailed behind him, shorts, and, of course, no t-shirt to hide his muscular chest and stomach. A small spitz type dog ran just behind him, barely keeping up with his trainer. 

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. 

_“Ohhhhh, no. Oh no, no, no, he’s still unfairly hot.”_

“Burnet! Oh wow, Burnet!” 

_“Scratch that. He somehow got even hotter.”_

She shyly raised a hand to cover her mouth while she waved with the other. 

A moment later and she was airborne, being spun around and around by her friend, who couldn't say anything besides “Oh wow!” over and over again. 

He gently placed her back on the floor, breathing heavily from the exertion. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should’ve made sure you were okay with being picked up.” 

“You used to do it all the time, dude. I always said it was okay!” 

“Still shoulda checked.” 

“You always have permission. You’re the only one with that kinda clearance, ya know!” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yup!” 

He picked her up and spun her again before pausing and quickly putting her down. 

“Oh no, I might’ve crushed some of them.” he muttered, checking the object in his hands. Burnet curiously glanced down and saw that he was holding a beautiful flower garland. 

“Oh! Umm…this is traditional,” he explained, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “For you! It’s like…meant to welcome you! And stuff! Here!”

He held the present out to her and bowed a bit. After she had dazedly taken the fragrant gift and put it on, Kukui laughed and adjusted it so half of the garland was draped over her back, and half over her front. He hesitated before leaning in and giving her a long, deep hug. 

“Alola, Burnet!” 

It took everything she had, every bit of her power, every bit of her self control, to not swoon on the spot.

 

* * *

 

“So, is there anything I should know about wearing this?” Burnet asked, gently playing with her garland as they left the baggage claim. “I remember you didn't want to take yours off at graduation while your family was still there?…” 

“Yeah, it’s kinda disrespectful to take it off in front of the person who gave it to you. That’s why I kept mine on,” Kukui smiled, walking with his hands in his pockets. “There aren’t many hard rules, but it'd be really cool of you if you did that too. Wait until you can discretely take it off without me seeing, and give it a spot of honor in your hotel room. Also, don't just throw it out. Return it to the earth.” 

“I’ll definitely be sure to do that,” she grinned. 

“Woooo!” Kukui sang out, dancing alongside her as she held back laughter behind her hand. 

“Sorry for being a weirdo. I’m just stoked you’re here!” he laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulder. He nudged her a bit as they walked, grinning happily. 

_“She looks a little red. Hopefully the heat isn’t too much for her,”_ he worried to himself as they approached the airport entrance…

The automatic doors opened with a swish. 

Burnet gasped. 

Palm trees. And the ocean, a deep, deep turquoise ocean. And a soft salty breeze rustling the bright green vegetation that seemed to grow so thickly everywhere she looked. The sun shone brighter than she’d ever seen it. And the sky…so unbelievably blue. 

“Wow,” she breathed.

Kukui squeezed her shoulder and leaned over to whisper into her ear.

Burnet turned as red as a tamato berry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So on a serious note, I did a TON of reading about lei etiquette to make sure I handled it right. However, if I got something wrong or made a faux pas, PLEASE feel free to shoot me a message so I can fix it! I am eager to make sure things are respectful and correct! *okay emoji* 
> 
> Anyway, from here on out these two will have WAY more scenes together. AND IN PERSON NOW. This is where it's gonna start happening. Yes. 
> 
> Next chapter will be Friday evening. I'm gonna take tomorrow off from posting for real this time.
> 
> As always, thanks so much for reading. And also as always...*Finger guns*


	7. The Hano interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rockruff ruins everything.

Burnet flopped onto the bed and groaned. “Dear frick. Yes.” 

Her friend laughed from the doorway, “Looks comfy!”

“This bed is everything I ever wanted in life. I am overcome with emotion.” 

“I’ll break the news to dream research.”

“The concept of dream research in general?”

“Sure. Yeah, that’s what I meant.” 

“I’m breaking up with the general concept of dream research, Kukui.” 

“Woo, this is serious.” 

“I’m breaking up with it for this. FRICKING. BED.”

Kukui finally entered the room, padding across the plush carpet and letting the door slowly close behind him with a soft click. 

He flopped onto the bed next to her and folded his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Wow. Super comfy!” 

Burnet stiffened up a bit.

Kukui immediately shifted away to give her a little more room. 

He was sure that she liked him a lot. He didn’t have any insecurities about their friendship. She always seemed to be glad to interact with him, she trusted him, she let him tease her and she was always eager to dish it back… 

She was a good friend. She was outgoing, smart, funny, caring…

...and he couldn't shake the feeling that he made her uncomfortable sometimes. 

She’d clam up. She’d turn away. She’d turn bright red. She’d hide her face. 

It wasn't the Burnet he knew.

It made him a little sad. He was naturally an outgoing, affectionate, touchy-feely guy, and sometimes he worried about overstepping her boundaries. Every time he double and triple checked her consent, she always insisted he had it. And yeah, she did seem to enjoy it when he got into her bubble. But it still seemed like there was something in the way. A wall. Like her enjoyment was tempered with something else that caused her to freeze up and not truly relax around him. 

He wished he had the guts to ask her to talk about it. Because there was also the fact…well…

…there was also the fact that he was secretly not-so-secretly head-over-heels crazy about her. 

He considered the fact, as they silently sprawled on the hotel bed together and stared at the ceiling, that this might be an absolutely excellent time to ask her if they could talk. 

He opened his mouth…

…and Rocky came barreling onto the bed, leaping across their stomachs in two quick yet devastatingly painful hops. 

They ended up rolling on the bed, laughing, while attempting to catch the puppy who had decided to play a game of keep-away with Kukui’s hat.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, that meal was perfect,” Kukui stretched like a feline, with his head resting on one of Burnet’s pillows. “I’m definitely stuffed.” 

“So good. Worth it. Thanks for going next door to get the noms.” 

“If I fall asleep, wake me up so you can kick me and Rocky out, yeah?”

“Kay. If you won’t move, I’ll have him jump onto your stomach again.” 

“Oww.”

Burnet laughed and jumped onto the bed. “I do need to get some sleep soon, though. I’m jet lagged and have to be up at eight for my first lecture.”

Kukui immediately shot up and started searching for his shoes. “Shoot, you’re right! I’m so sorry. I’ll-“ 

Burnet shook her head. 

“Not your fault! I’ve been having too much fun, so I keep putting off bedtime.” 

“I still feel bad.”

“If I get to bed within an hour, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it!” 

“Okay, go ahead and start getting ready if you want, I just need to find-“ 

“What, you want me to change while you’re here?” 

Burnet reached for the hem of her shirt and slowly raised it an inch, revealing a sliver of the skin on her stomach… 

It wasn't often that she could successfully embarrass her friend, but when she did…

Kukui’s face turned bright red at the cheeks and he shielded his eyes faster than she could blink.

“Oh come on!” he complained. “That’s not what I meant!” 

Burnet deviously cackled as she danced into the bathroom to brush her teeth. 

“Yeah, that’s more what I meant!!!” He called after her with a huff. “Wow!” 

“Camft her yuh,” she yelled through a mouth full of toothpaste and electric toothbrush. 

While he was out of her line of sight, Kukui took the time to find his left shoe and his composure, both of which had gone missing. 

 

* * *

 

“Okay, three days. I’ll be back then unless you need something.”

“Alright,” Burnet said, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She was dressed in her pajamas (she had a bathroom to change in, after all), and her wild pale hair hung down to her shoulders. 

(Kukui had barely been able to look at her after she exited the bathroom wearing a thin set of silky button up pjs).

“You sure you’ll be okay boating at night? Won’t it be dangerous?”

“Naw, I do it all the time. I’ll be home in 45 minutes, tops. As long as there’s moonlight and clear skies, there’s nothing to worry about.” 

Burnet nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

She smiled a small, shy smile at him. 

“Thanks for hanging out with me. It was a lot of fun.” 

“I had fun too.” 

He returned the shy smile. 

“See ya in three days?”

“See ya in three days.” 

 

* * *

 

Burnet cuddled into her pillow and smiled dreamily as she drifted off. 

It smelled like him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you're still having fun reading. Special shout out to beepboopwriting for being so kind and encouraging! Nice comments and kudos are wicked motivating, and I appreciate it so much! 
> 
> I might post chapter eight tomorrow evening. If not, eh, I'm ahead of schedule. It'll be by Tuesday. 
> 
> Have an excellent weekend! Stay awesome! 
> 
> *Finger guns*


	8. Hopes and Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kukui cracks his knuckles and Burnet owns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: A depiction of colleague/professional sexual harassment. Nothing explicit, but it might make some people uncomfortable. Please feel free to ask if you want to check with me about the specifics before reading!

_“So cool,”_ Burnet thought to herself as she filed out of the lecture hall. _“So. Freaking. Cool.”_

She joined the stream of chatty scientists as they exited the building into an open courtyard that served as a commons of sorts. Everywhere she looked were lab coats of various colors, researchers comparing notes, small good-natured arguments over data…

She sighed happily and breathed in the fresh air. She hadn’t felt this good or enthusiastic about her career in a long time. 

She sat on an empty bench and unlocked her tablet. She fired off a quick report to the lab back home to keep them in the loop before realizing that her phone, which she’d kept on silent while in the hall, had been buzzing.

She curiously checked the number. It wasn’t one of her contacts. It was an alolan number?… 

“Hello?” she asked hesitantly. _"It's not Kukui. Who else do I even know?..."_

“Professor Burnet?” A warm female voice chirped. “This is Anise. Where are you right now?” 

“Oh! Oh hi, Professor!” Burnet sat up straight. “I’m ahhh…on a bench in the courtyard commons thing outside of the hall.” 

“Okay, perfect. Don’t move, I’ll be there in a hot minute.” The line clicked off. 

Burnet took a deep breath. “Stay calm, she’s human like you…”

In thirty seconds, an older scientist with short brown hair plopped down on the bench. 

“Thank goodness you didn't leave early!” The woman started shuffling through the papers in her bag. “Where is it, where is it…” She pulled a tablet out of the bag and swiped to a live itinerary. “We were going to end at four-thirty today, but we decided to add one more short thing at the last minute to take us to five. I was going to do it myself, but then I decided that I’ve already done a few panels, and I should let someone else get a little bit of the limelight.” 

She glanced up and smiled. 

“Would you be willing to take some questions on your interdream research? It would be short, and if anyone gives you a hard time I’ll be in the front row to put them back in line.” 

“What? I mean…yeah! Yes! What? Yes! As long as it’s not about my inventions because-” 

Anise laughed and held up her hand. 

“Excellent. You don’t need to prepare anything new. And yes, it will be about your research only. I read a few of your papers. They were very interesting!” 

Burnet’s eyes widened. “You read?…”

“Of course! You have some fascinating ideas. It’s nice to see someone young tackle some of these problems. Your minds are more open to new ideas. You aren’t so quick to dismiss theories that are kind of out there. It’s a shake-up this branch of research needs sometimes.” 

Burnet gasped a bit at Anise before breaking into a huge excited smile. 

“That’s a huge honor! Thank you so much!” 

Anise returned the smile. “Be ready to go at four-thirty. You’ll do great.” 

After the woman left, Burnet shot off several excited texts. 

Within seconds she had a small pile of congratulatory messages and one promise to take her out to a celebratory dinner afterwards. 

 

* * *

 

“No, no, no, that's not-“ 

“I don’t mean to doubt you, but are you positive your readings are correct?” 

Burnet icily stared down the older man as they walked out of the hall.

“ABSOLUTELY.”  

“It can sometimes be difficult to confirm the data output since it’s so easy to calibrate the sensors incorrectly. If-“ 

Burnet’s stomach clenched a bit. It wasn’t just the annoying questions and condescension. That uncomfortable feeling was a warning signal. _Gotta get out of this..._

“They were calibrated correctly,” she stated, firmly and with finality, holding out her hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. “End of story.”  

The man huffed. 

“Interesting,” he offered as a weak parting shot before stomping off to join a small group of scientists who all seemed to be about his age. 

Burnet rolled her eyes and jumped when a hand patted her gently on the shoulder. She glanced up, startled and still a little shaken by her previous conversation. 

“You did an excellent job,” Anise smiled. 

Burnet drooped a bit in relief. “Thanks. That was a little brutal.” 

“You’re young and female. Sometimes that’s a bad combination in our line of work.” 

“I’ve noticed that.” 

“Well, you handled it like a champ. You’re a tough little cookie.”  

Anise glanced over at the group of older scientists. 

“Ahh. I know that one. Keep an eye on him.” 

“Oh. Okay, I will.” 

_"Thanks, intuition."_

“Thanks again for asking me to take questions. I haven’t felt that challenged in a long time.” 

Anise nodded, still staring at the group on the other side of the courtyard. “My pleasure. Again, excellent job. Please, keep in touch.”

She turned back to Burnet and raised her eyebrows significantly. 

“I’ll also keep in touch with opportunities for you. Good ones.” 

She glanced back at the gaggle in the corner, who had started to leave the courtyard as a group. 

She relaxed slightly. She gave one final grandmotherly pat on Burnet’s shoulder. 

“Enjoy the rest of your trip, my little firecracker. Stay safe. You’ll be hearing from me.” 

Anise hurried out of the courtyard as she made a call on her phone. Burnet stared after her a little giddily. She grinned happily. 

_“I did it…”_

She all but floated out of the courtyard.

 

* * *

  

> Wait for me out in front of the Hano, yeah? I’m pulling into the bay right now!
> 
> Either that or I can meet you at the docks?
> 
> It’s okay! You've had a long day. Relax on a bench, enjoy the fresh air, and I’ll come get you!
> 
> Alright! hahaha
> 
> Docking now! Be there in five! :)

 

Burnet smiled a little goofily as she returned her phone to her bag. _“Could today get even bett-“_  

She shivered.

A shadow slowly eclipsed her and the bench. 

She froze.

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. Allow me to apologize for being so distrustful of your research.” 

The old man sat on the bench next to her. 

“Let me treat you to dinner.” 

Burnet inched away. He inched closer. 

“No thanks,” she said firmly. 

_“You’re stronger than him. He can’t overpower you. You’re stronger than him. He can’t overpower you…”_

“Come on! I feel bad for giving you such a hard time.”  

“No. Thank you. Have a good one.”  

“What a shame. You’re very cute, you know. Such lovely hair.” 

“Thanks.” 

“It would be an honor to have such a cute, young, researcher grant me her company.” 

Her skin crawled. 

“I. Have. Plans.” she ground out through gritted teeth, turning to stare the man down. _“What’s his name? I don’t even have a name for this sleaze-ball.”_  

“Doubtful. You're at your first conference and you’re not from around here. You can’t know many people yet.” 

He leaned closer. 

“I can help you with that.”  

“I can network myself. I’m actually quite good at it.”

His blue eyes narrowed. 

“You’re being a bit rude.” 

“Oops. I hope you have a good time for the rest of your stay. It was nice meeting you. Bye.”

The man chuckled softly to himself.

“Let me be a bit more blunt. If you give me the pleasure of your company, I would be glad to do you some favors career wise.” 

His eyes swept over her.

“It’s a trade I would be eager to make.”

Burnet’s shoulders squared up and she turned on him as she swelled with anger. 

“You’re now officially out of line. Leave me alone. This is your final warning.”  

“Goodness! Come, come, Burnet. There’s no need for that. Let me-“

A shadow fell over the bench.  

“Heya, Burnet! Who’s your little friend?”

She felt her stomach melt in relief. 

It had never felt so good and comforting to be picked up and spun around.

 

* * *

 

“He. What.” 

“My skin is still crawling.” 

Burnet heard a light popping sound and glanced down in time to catch Kukui subtly cracking his knuckles as he walked. 

Despite herself, she smirked a bit.

_“Messing with me means you also have to deal with the guy who once successfully put a machoke in a sleeper hold. Good luck.”_

“Things did feel a bit weird when I walked up. He didn’t…he didn't hurt you, did he?” 

Burnet shuddered unpleasantly. “No. I was two seconds away from breaking his nose and throwing him into the ocean, though.” 

“I’m sure you could’ve. You’re small, but no joke. You could probably throw ME into the water.” Kukui said a little proudly.  

“Haha. Yeah…”

She quietly added, “…but he did creep me out. I feel so gross.” 

Kukui hesitantly put his arm over her shoulder. 

“Umm…is touching you okay right now?” 

_Warm. Comfortable._  

She sagged into him a bit. 

“Yes.”  

They walked in silence. 

“At least everything else was phenomenal,” she finally said. 

“Oh yeah! It sounds like you destroyed that Q&A! OHKO!” 

“Anise…the woman I was telling you about? She said she’s going to keep in touch.”

Kukui’s face lit up. He squeezed her shoulder. 

“She runs the Dimensional Research Lab down the road. She was the one in charge of the whole conference. I’ve read all of her papers on alolan legends. I’ve been following her stuff for years.” 

She sighed dreamily. 

“It’s so fascinating.” 

“I love listening to you talk about that stuff. You always get so jazzed.” 

Burnet grinned shyly. 

“It’s like listening to you talk about moves, then.” 

Kukui flushed and returned the grin.

 

* * *

 

“Are..are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m not staying in the same hotel as that ass. I'm not staying on the same ISLAND as that ass.”  

Burnet viciously stabbed a piece of vegetable with her fork and bit at the offending vegetation with a snap of her teeth. Kukui flinched. 

“I forgot what it’s like to see you angry.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, you definitely have a right to be. It’s just a little…” 

He paused.  

“Terrifying?” 

Burnet locked eyes with him and snapped at another piece of vegetable. 

Kukui shook himself off. 

“Just remind me to never get on your bad side. Not that I think I ever will? And uhh, you being angry isn’t making me uncomfortable or upset or terrified for real, keep being angry, if anything it’s cool to see-” 

Burnet’s laughter shook him out of his babbling. 

“Sorry. I’ll be nicer to my broccoli,” she promised. To prove the point, she gently speared another piece of greenery and lightly munched on it. 

Kukui laughed and continued digging into his food as well. 

“Are you sure you can cancel the room?” 

“Yep! As long as I check out before eight, the lab won’t get charged for the next three days. I also checked with Mulaney. He said our accountant appreciates that I’m saving them a bit of money." 

“Okay! Great!” 

Kukui grinned. 

“Getting the chance to show you my new place is a nice surprise.” 

“I can’t wait to see it!” 

“I’ll have to make sure the loft is ready before you can use it, but that shouldn’t take long. A fresh set of sheets, a quick sweeping…You’ll have your own space to sleep, and we can just…hang out.” 

“That sounds perfect. Way better than staying at the resort after…”

Her fork trembled in anger as she threatened another piece of broccoli. 

She paused and shook her head. 

”No. You know what? No. Screw that guy. I’m not wasting any more time on that. I proved myself today. And you know what else?” 

Burnet held up her glass and grinned.

“One day, I’m gonna run my own research lab.”

Kukui smiled warmly and held up his glass too.

“Yeah, you will!  And one day, I’m gonna find a way to show the world how great alolan trainers are!”

"You will, Kukui. I know it."

They clinked glasses. 

“To you, Professor Kukui!”

"Woo! To you, Professor Burnet!" 

"To us!" 

“To our...dreams!”  

“Ha. Ha. Haaaaaaaaaaaaa.”

 

* * *

 

They pulled into the Melemele docks under a clear sky and a gorgeous full moon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hopefully I handled this well. Being harassed is terrible. It's an awful feeling. Bad, bad, bad. You just feel GROSS. 
> 
> Don't worry. The jerk's now out of the picture. Burnet will be fine. I can promise that he's not just gonna randomly show up again to mess with her. He's so unimportant I decided to not even give him a name ahahaha. 
> 
> Well, next chapter is...hmmm. Let's put it this way...
> 
> EXPLICIT. THE ENTIRE REASON FOR THE E RATING. AVERT YOUR EYES. 
> 
> Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Thanks for reading! *finger guns*


	9. Show me how you do that trick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...and this time, Rocky DOESN'T ruin everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXPLICIT SEXINESS WARNING. If you're under 18 or don't wanna read that sort of thing, back out now. If you don't mind light make outs and still wanna see some cute relationship stuff without the explicitness, read to the end of the scene in front of the door. It'll be obvious where you should stop.
> 
> *SHOVES THIS CHAPTER AT YOU WHILE COVERING HER RED FACE WITH HER OTHER HAND*

Neither Burnet nor Kukui could remember what it was like to lie around and do absolutely nothing. 

“This is weird.” 

“Yeah, all sorts of weird.” 

“I should be preparing a new device for review.” 

“I should be running more tests on brick break.” 

“I should be accidentally singeing off my eyebrows in a small explosion.” 

“I should be taking hits from a makuhita.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“Forget I said that.”

“Kukui.” 

“I sometimes let pokémon hit me with moves to test their power?…” 

“You what.” 

“Heh. Heh heh.” 

“I am somehow not surprised. You meathead.” 

“You geek.” 

“And proud. And you can’t take that away from me, no, no, you can’t take that away from me,” she sang, adjusting her orange sunglasses. She stretched on her blanket and sighed.

“The breeze feels great.” 

“Yeah. Sun feels great too. For those of us who don’t have to hide under an umbrella.” 

She laughed from her spot in the shade. “Just until I accidentally get a tan. Or some really strong sunscreen.”

“We’ll find you some SPF two billion the next time we go into town.”

“Perfect. I can’t believe I forgot to pack sunscreen.” she shifted again and sighed and accidentally glanced over at him…

_…and…_

_…and…_

_…mmmphhh…_

…hard a hard time looking away. 

Under her dark glasses it wasn't obvious that she was staring, which was probably a good thing. He wasn’t wearing very much and…he was just kinda there…and…

_“Check out those muscles…”_

She sweated a bit and turned away. 

_“Damn you, Kukui. No. Nope. Not now.”_

Her hips wiggled involuntarily as a series of images involving her and Kukui rolling in the sand invaded her mind with the force of a thunderbolt. 

_He’d moan into her ear while she’d slowly slide her hand down his…_

She stifled a gasp. 

_“Ughhhh. No. Not now. Not fair. Go away.”_

“You okay over there? you look a little red.” 

“Yupppp. Just hot.” 

She grabbed her water bottle and took a long swig. 

“And thirsty.”

 

* * *

 

Burnet lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. She could pick out a few spots where the roof had been patched recently. Gentle chirping and rustling sounds and the crashing of the ocean drifted in from the open windows, floating on the salty breeze. 

It was ultra peaceful. 

…And somehow not enough to lull her to sleep. 

Something itched along her spine. Something deep in her chest, in her breath, in her heart felt restless and wide awake.

To make the situation worse, her phone was stuck charging at an outlet several feet away from her bed.

_“Might as well watch some bad late night tv on low volume.”_

She crept down the loft’s ladder and tiptoed into the living room space, a white haired ghost in pale green satin pjs. 

She flipped channels until she found a documentary on the fauna of the Kalos region. She had some ancestry from there, so she was always interested in learning about the place. 

She rested her head on the arm of the couch and cuddled into a blanket. She nuzzled it and sighed happily. Her eyes drooped a bit. 

_“Smells like him.”_ Her half awake mind purred. 

Her eyes slid closed. Finally. Sleep- 

“Oooh, what’re we watching???”

She shot up, tangling herself in the blanket in the process.

“NOTHING! TV! I’m sorry if I woke-“ 

Kukui bounced onto the couch. “Couldn’t sleep. Came out to watch some bad late night tv.” 

He bopped her on the nose with a finger. 

“You apparently had the same idea.” 

He grabbed the other side of the large blanket and nestled into it, propping up his head with his hand. 

“Sorry if I accidentally bump you.” He mumbled.

“S’OK” 

They watched silently for a while, their only light the blue glow of the tv, and the moonlight streaming through the windows. 

 

* * *

 

He glanced at her for the thousandth time. She was still half awake, still watching the show, head leaning on the armrest of the couch. 

She seemed too out of it to notice that he was watching her and not the tv. 

_“Oh man, she’s so cute.”_

He felt that urge welling up inside his chest as he stared at her, until it was almost painful. The moment was perfect. There were no distractions. It was just them, the night, and an unlimited supply of awesomely bad tv.

_“Just talk to her, you coward!”_

He cleared his throat. She turned to look at him through her long, dark, eyelashes. 

She smiled warmly. 

“Everything okay?” 

His mouth went dry.

“MALASADAS.” 

She blinked. “Huh?”

“Malasadas! I totally forgot that I picked up a bag before I left to get you…yesterday? Technically two days ago?…To try. I mean, I got them for you to try!”

He jumped up and ran to the kitchen where he rustled around a bit before returning with a brown paper bag. 

He plopped onto the couch and held the bag out to her with a flourish. 

“You like chocolate, so I got you dobash flavor.” 

Burnet curiously poked her nose into the bag. ”They’re like donuts?”

“Kinda. It’s a little bit different.” 

“And chocolate is involved?”

“In this kind, yeah.”

“You have my attention.” 

They tore into the bag like a pair of wild mightyena.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, two is my limit,” Burnet laughed. “So good, though. Sooooooo good.” 

“I’ll limit myself to three, then. So you can have some for later.” He forced himself to fold the top of the bag and place it on the coffee table. “We’ll have to get some fresh ones. They’re even better warm.” 

“Mmm,” Burnet murmured. “When we go to get sunscreen.” 

“Okay,” Kukui whispered before asking “…Sleepy yet?” 

Burnet shook her head. “Just a little drowsy, but not enough to sleep. If you are, though, go ahead. I’ll be fine.” 

“Nah. I’m wide awake.” 

She smiled and burrowed into the blanket a bit. “Okay. I’m having fun.” 

Kukui nodded before leaning on the couch cushions. He stared for a moment. 

“Are you sure there isn’t anything the matter?” She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. 

He hesitated. 

He swallowed and closed his eyes.

“Kukui?”

He opened his eyes and breathed out a long, grounding breath.

He moved the blanket aside so he could scootch towards her.

She wiggled a bit under his intense gaze as he leaned closer. 

“You…”

She gulped.

“Have a little something…” 

He reached out and gently swiped at the corner of her mouth with his thumb, cupping her face with the rest of his large, calloused hand. 

“Just a little filling and sugar.”

He smiled shakily. 

“Got it.” 

Burnet’s mind went totally blank. 

_"What…what just happened?"_

She was dimly aware of her heart pounding in her chest. Her breath coming out in small pants. Kukui’s hand gently cradling her face almost like he didn’t want to let go. 

_“DO SOMETHING.”_

There was no dog to distract them. No work to dive into. No excuses to make. This was happening. Was this happening? This was happening. 

_“DO SOMETHING. HE LOOKS JUST AS SCARED AS YOU ARE.”_

At that realization, Burnet reached up to grab the hand that was holding her face. 

She stared up at him with wide, slightly terrified eyes. 

He was shock still, except for his shallow breaths, almost like he was afraid to move and spook her. 

_"His face is so red. Is…is he shaking?"_

She gently moved his hand so his thumb was resting on her lips.

_“You’ve got this, Burnet. You’ve totally got this.”_

She breathed…

And opened her lips to gently suck the sweet sugar and chocolate off of his thumb. 

She released it with a small pop, letting go of his hand and allowing it to fall back to the blanket.

_"What do I even say now? Was that weird? I shouldn't have done that why did I do that it was so weird he’s gonna think-"_

“That-“

He huffed weakly and leaned on the couch for support. 

“That was so unfair, Burnet.” 

She glanced at his face and felt her stomach twist. 

That intense look in his eyes.

That agonized tone in his voice.

_ "...he wants me?" _

Her eyes widened. 

_ “KEEP DOING SOMETHING.”  _

“You could always get back at me.”

She slowly rose to her shaky knees, allowing the blanket to fall off of her as she went. She steadied herself on the couch cushions before leaning towards him.

“Show me unfair, Kukui,” she whispered. 

His breath hitched… 

…and in one smooth motion, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. 

He froze again, staring into her eyes, their faces inches apart, his fingers digging into her back. 

His quick breaths huffed against her lips. 

“Are…are you okay…it’s really okay to…do this?”

She nodded firmly. “You’re okay with this…too?” 

He nodded.

“T-then y-”

Before she finished, he kissed her. 

_"His lips are so soft. He’s shaking. I’m shaking. I feel lightheaded. In such a good way. This feels so good. What’s happening. I don’t want it to stop please don’t stop…"_

They were totally still for a few seconds while they shivered and got their nerves under control…

Then they were moving, Kukui’s hands running up and down Burnet’s back and through her hair while she softly pecked at his lips. 

It was all she could do to keep herself quiet.

A small squeak escaped her mouth and she pulled away, embarrassed. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

She shook her head and shyly kneaded at his stomach with her fingertips. 

“Oh. OH.”

He leaned in to kiss her again. 

“Please don’t hold back,” he whispered between kisses. 

“Sorry, I’m just embarrassed.” 

“No one’ll hear you but me.”

He kissed her hard and panted against her lips.

“And I WANT to hear you.” 

She involuntarily let out a quiet moan from the pleasant way that her lower abdomen clenched. 

“Oh wow, oh wow that’s so good,” he whimpered as he dug his fingers into her back. “Please. More.”

“My neck,” she gasped. 

“What?”

“My neck.”

“Am I hurting your neck?” he asked, pulling away again. 

She shook her head again. “No. I like it…it’ll make me…” 

She tilted her head. The sleeve of her night shirt slid down her shoulder. 

He buried his face in the crook of her neck before she could react. 

She gasped. 

“Where?” he whispered against her soft skin. 

“Under…my ear.” 

She whimpered as he kissed at her and searched around for her other sweet spots, whispering praise as he went. 

“So nice…this is…so…nice.” 

He nibbled at a particularly sensitive spot and she jerked her hips into his and moaned. 

He froze with a gasp. 

“You…are…going to kill me.” he groaned. 

She paused, hips still pressing into his. 

“Kukui…can…”

He immediately pulled away from her neck and brushed a strand of pale hair out of her eyes. He waited patiently for her to finish. 

“Can…you show me your room?”

His eyes widened. 

“Are…you…are you sure?” he asked weakly. “Is what you’re saying what I think you’re saying?” 

She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes.

She nodded. 

“Oh…oh-kay. I’m standing up. Hold on.” 

He rose from the couch, clutching his friend closely as she held onto his neck. She swung her legs up to loop around his hips. 

He walked them out of the living room and down the hallway. His heart pounded as he reached his bedroom door… 

A sudden moment of clarity caused him to look down at the woman in his arms and pause.

He stared at her soft, fluffy hair. 

Her exposed shoulder. 

Her cute, pointy nose. 

Her gorgeous green eyes.

Her lower lip, that she was biting nervously... 

His best friend.

Kukui shook his head to clear it. 

“Hang on, Burnet.” He said gently. “I’m gonna set us down here for a sec.” 

She tightened her hold as he slid to the floor. He gently rubbed her back as she settled into his lap again. 

“Everything okay?” she asked softly. She was still breathing hard, but their detour had calmed her down a bit. 

“Yeah. I don’t even know where to begin. But yeah. We need to talk.” 

He continued to run his hand lightly up and down her back. 

“I care about you.” he started. 

Silence. 

“I wanna make sure neither one of us is about to get hurt. Especially you.” 

More silence. 

“If you want this to be a casual thing, or a one time thing, or even a friends with benefits thing, that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. But…”

He swallowed. 

“I need to be honest…” 

He hugged her tightly to his chest. 

“Casual wouldn’t work. I like you too much. I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I’d get my heart broken because I…I…I…” 

His heart clenched. 

He closed his eyes. 

“…I love you.”

Silence. 

He kept his eyes closed. He didn’t dare to move an inch. He just held her in the dark hallway, the moonlight streaming in through a small, cracked window.

_“Okay, you did it, bro. You did it. Let her turn ya down easy if she’s not on board. No matter what happens in the next few seconds, at least yo-“_

“I’VE HAD A GIANT, STUPID CRUSH ON YOU FOR YEARS!” Burnet yelled. 

He let her go to stare at her. 

She slowly hid her reddening face in her hands. 

The gears in Kukui’s brain turned…

…and suddenly, everything clicked. 

“Y-yeah?” 

She nodded, face still in her hands. 

“You feel the same way?”

She nodded again. 

“You feel the same way about me? And you’d want…you’d say yes if I asked…”

She nodded a third time. 

_“SHE LIKES ME? SHE LIKES ME!!!!!!”_

He pulled her in for another hug, and buried his nose in her hair. 

They stayed like that for a bit while the breeze gently blew through the window, a soothing balm on their flushed skin. 

Finally, Burnet emerged from her hiding spot. 

“What…what just happened?” she mumbled.

“There’s a lot to think about, yeah. Talk to me.” 

“I’m…”

She looked away. 

“I’m a little bit terrified,” she confessed to the wall. 

“We can take it slow. Would that make it less scary?” 

“I dunno. I think I can handle it?…it’s not a bad feeling, just a strong and sudden one that I wasn’t expecting, you know? I'm a little blindsided.“

Kukui laughed nervously. 

“If it makes ya feel any better, I’m pretty nervous, too. I mean, I just confessed to a girl who I’ve crushed on for forever…” 

“At least you were eloquent and romantic about it. I just screamed at my crush and hid my freaking face.”

Kukui grinned. 

“Your crush isn’t complaining. Besides, if memory serves, you made some pretty smooth moves on him when the two of you were on the couch.” 

She shyly giggled at him. 

“We’re idiots, aren’t we?” 

The sound of her laughter shot straight to his heart and he melted a bit. 

_“I’ve got it so bad,”_ he sighed to himself. _“I’ve got it so damn bad.”_

Burnet seemed to notice his slight swoon. She timidly put her arms around his neck and fluttered her eyelashes at him. 

“Not fair…that was really adorable…” Kukui trailed off, still grinning.

Burnet leaned in and landed a small peck on his cheek. “Good.” 

The small kiss made him reflexively grip at her back. 

Her breath hitched a little. 

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. 

Her hand gripped at his arm. 

He softly pecked at her lips. 

They frantically crashed together again, gasping, lips on lips, lips on neck, hands in hair…

“Can I…” Burnet lightly tugged at Kukui’s bun. 

“Yeah, sure…” 

He reached back and pulled out the hair tie, his dark mane falling to his shoulders as it was freed from the elastic. 

Burnet reached out tentatively. 

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long.” she confessed, gently kissing him as she ran her fingers through his smooth, wavy hair. 

“I didn't realize I’ve wanted you to do this for so long.” he shivered. 

“Can…can we check out your bed still? If you’re okay with it?” 

He rubbed her back. “As long as I have your enthusiastic consent, yeah?”

She leaned in to whisper in his ear. 

“It’s beyond enthusiastic. I want you so badly it's almost painful.” 

Kukui groaned.

“I want you even more.” 

They fell through the bedroom door entangled in each other as they frantically kissed. 

“Uhh…hold on, hold on.” he murmured against her mouth. “We’re still on, just letting you know that I’ve got…uhhh…you know. Before we get too…I’m prepared. Don’t worry.” 

“We’re double prepared, then. I’m also healthy…you know.” 

“Great, me too.” 

Kukui bent down to kiss her neck.

She shivered. 

“Ready?” he whispered. 

They fell onto the bed.

Burnet scooted backwards as Kukui slowly crawled over her. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Be sure to tell me what you like, yeah?”

She gripped the back of his neck and nodded. “Same for you.” 

He kissed at her neck, slowly trailing up and down. Burnet let out a long, deep exhale and closed her eyes. 

Sitting on his lap was one thing. 

Laying in a comfortable and warm bed with him on top was a completely different experience that bordered on overwhelming. 

She started shyly touching wherever she could reach while he kissed and nibbled at her neck and shoulder.

She ran her hands up his back, across his shoulders, down his sides… 

_Speaking of things I’ve wanted to do for so long…_

He groaned into her neck and clutched at the hem of her shirt like he was trying to stop himself.

She whimpered. 

“Touch me, too. Please.”

He slowly ran a shaky hand up and under her silky top, caressing her skin as he went. 

“Ahhh.” she gasped. 

He huffed into her neck as he traced up the generous swell of her chest and softly brushed his fingers over the tip. 

“So soft,” he commented raggedly. “You’re so soft.”

He gently squeezed.

Burnet let out an overwhelmed sob. 

“I like it gentle… like you’re doing,” she choked out. “It’s…really nice.” 

“Can your shirt come off? Are you comfortable with that?” 

She hurriedly started unbuttoning her top. 

“Wait!” Kukui removed his hand and reached out to stop her. “Can…can I?…”

She stopped, let her hands flop to her sides, and nodded shyly.

He leaned over, still partially supporting his weight with one hand, and used the other to slowly tease the buttons of her shirt open. 

He started at the top, kissing from her neck to the collarbone, and nuzzling every bit of exposed skin on her chest as he made his way down. He popped a few buttons loose and glanced up. 

Burnet’s eyes were squeezed shut and her hand was covering her mouth. 

She was shaking like a leaf. 

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Mmhmmm. Just nervous. Still like it. Keep going.”

He unbuttoned the rest of her shirt, going a bit quicker this time, until it was completely unbuttoned and loosely covering her.

She wiggled a bit as he hesitated. 

“Touch me?” she asked, reaching up to thread her fingers through his hair. 

He lightly ran a hand up the center of her chest, and slid it under her open shirt.

She arched her back and cried out. 

The sound ripped through Kukui’s chest and he crashed back into her, kissing and touching and moaning against her chest’s soft skin as she writhed under him in pure bliss. 

“I can’t take this…I can’t take this…” he whimpered, gently kissing at a freshly exposed breast. “…you’re too sexy. This is too much. I can’t take it…”

“Now you know…how much you’ve tortured…yes, there, like that, yes!…how much you’ve tortured me…seeing your chest…all the time…it drove me crazy.” 

He moaned. 

“I don’t wanna disappoint you…” he exhaled against her skin in an effort to temporarily calm himself. “...and this is super embarrassing to admit, but...I’m not gonna last very long.” 

“It’s okay.”

She sighed a slow and deep breath. 

“I’m not going to last long either.” 

“Is this the part where we get each other naked?”

“Yes, please.” 

They took turns awkwardly helping each other out of their pants, with lots of sideways glances and red faces. 

They kissed gently for a while, taking an opportunity to relax and enjoy the feel of skin on skin. 

“You’re so soft. How are you so soft?” Kukui mumbled into Burnet’s shoulder. 

She laughed. “Lotion. A gentle body wash.” 

He growled in appreciation. 

“You’re really fun to touch too, though.” she commented, sliding a hand up his muscular back to prove her point. 

He shivered and smiled.

“Thanks.” 

They kissed again, a bit less gently. 

“Are you…are you ready? Should I grab…“ 

“Yes, please.” 

Kukui reached for his nightstand, and paused. 

“Wait. Not yet.” 

“What? No? What do you-“

His hand trailing down her stomach stopped her question in its tracks.

“A little more to get you really close?” 

He breathed against her neck.

“If you want it?” 

She stared at his hand with wide eyes.

She nodded.

He lightly slid his fingers between her legs. 

She threw her head back and gripped at the blankets as he gently brushed his fingertips against her a few times to gather a bit of slick moisture. He then slid back up, searched at her for a moment, and began rubbing in small, light circles. 

She covered her mouth with her hand and whimpered. 

Kukui stared at her as he worked, huffing lightly. 

“Oh wow…” he muttered weakly. “You’re so sexy…and soft…and wet…” 

Burnet buried her face in his shoulder and loudly cried out… 

…and suddenly stiffened… 

…and started urgently mumbling against his skin. 

“Are you okay? Is it good?…” 

She pulled her face away.

“I’m about to come,” she gasped.

“Oh! Oh, okay, oh, okay, wow, hold on, I mean, do you want me to keep going and help you finish…with my fingers I mean, or-“ 

“Get in me.” 

He had never located and rolled on protection so fast. 

He slowly lowered himself so his face was level with hers. He gently kissed her cheek.

“Meant it when I said this probably isn’t going to last long.” He whispered.

She lightly rubbed his back in a few comforting circles. 

“It's okay. Just relax. It'll feel good.” 

He sighed a deep, grounding breath. 

“O-okay. Ready?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

He lowered his hips, and let her gently guide him. 

He slid forward and his entire body exploded with fireworks. 

He pulled back and slid forward again.

“MMMMMM,” he moaned into her neck as he began a slow, sinuous rocking of his hips. 

Burnet had gone totally still and silent. She gripped the scruff of his neck and breathlessly huffed into his shoulder. 

“Feel…okay?” he asked softly, picking up the pace slightly. 

“More…than…okaAHH.” she got out, her eyes squeezed shut. 

Kukui ran a hand up and down her side and gripped her waist as he continued his gentle movements. 

“I’m...really close already…” he whispered shakily. “Are you?…” 

“Almost. Please. Almost.”

She looked up at him through heavy lidded eyes, gasping lightly. 

“Faster. Please.” 

He groaned. 

“Can’t go faster…I’ll be done too quick.”

“Different…position?” 

“How?” 

“Switch places with me.” 

In a flash, she rolled them over. 

She nestled onto his lap, leaning over to kiss him.

“Grab my hips. Thrust up.” she whispered. “I’ll come almost immediately.”

_ "Oh wow..." _

He shyly gripped her hips. He slowly pushed into her. 

She gripped at his pillow and moaned. 

He did it again. 

“More.” 

He hesitated, and then started a slow and steady rhythm. 

“More.”

He sped up.

“Yes…like…that…so…good…”

She started bouncing against him. He gasped.

“Burnet…if you keep…Burnet…”

“Keep…going…you can do it.”

“You…feel so good…Burnet…please…please…I want to…make you feel good…”

She sobbed into his shoulder.

“Please. Burnet…PLEASE.” 

“I’m gonna…MORE!” she cried, hiding her face in the pillow behind his shoulder.

Kukui gripped her hips and sped up into a quick, staccato rhythm, letting out an overwhelmed soft yelp…

…he felt Burnet’s entire body tense…

…just as she shrieked into the pillow and let go. 

_“Oh no, she’s a screamer, too hot, too hot…”_

Her out of control writhing and sexy noises and soft body and warm pulsing tightness were too much…

His eyes squeezed shut and he cried out as he followed her, wave after wave of pleasure slamming through him as he kept lightly thrusting through both of their aftershocks.

He came back down to earth, gasping a bit, holding a shaking, whimpering Burnet in his arms. 

“Burnet…honey…”

Her head snapped up from the pillow and she stared into his eyes. 

Her bare chest heaved against his. 

“What did you just call me?” she whispered.

“Oh no, I’m really sorry, it just came out, if you don’t like pet names…”

“Hold on…”

Kukui watched, a bit confused as as Burnet closed her eyes and held up her hand, counting down with her thumb. 

“Five…four…three…two…”

She opened her eyes.

“…one?” 

Kukui waited silently. 

Burnet touched his face. 

“You’re real…I’m not…oh thank goodness.” she moaned. 

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

She nodded hard and bent over to kiss him. 

“Yes. And call me honey all the time, as often as possible, please.” 

“You’ll haveta tell me what that was about when we come back to our senses,” Kukui laughed softly. 

Burnet shyly nodded before motioning that she was going to hop off. He gripped himself and hissed at the sudden shock of cool air on his length. 

“Bathroom. I’ll be right back.” she softly whispered as she shakily searched for her pjs. “Need anything?” 

“No. Do you?” 

“Just the bathroom. UTIs are no fun.” 

She slid out of the room, leaving Kukui to himself for a few minutes. 

After he cleaned himself up, he took the opportunity to flop back onto the bed, cover his face with his hands, and grin like an idiot at the ceiling as he floated in the afterglow. 

When Burnet returned to the bedroom, it was to Kukui posing sexily for her, totally nude.

“Welcome to my humble chamber…or as I call it, the Lovenasium.” 

He’d savor her playfully flustered scream for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SAFE, COMMUNICATIVE, AND CONSENSUAL IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO, GUYS. SAFE, COMMUNICATIVE, AND CONSENSUAL. 
> 
> Anyway, I am gonna go grab a snack in the kitchen to distract myself from what I have done here. If you'll please excuse me. 
> 
> *Weakly throws a pair of finger guns as she exits the room*


	10. Alola

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kukui makes way too many pancakes, Burnet meets half of Melemele Island, and there are tears. Not necessarily at the same time, but in that order.

“Makin’ pancakes, makin’ up some pancakes! For my honey, yeah, I’m makin' up some pancakes!” 

Kukui sang and danced at the stove as he poked at the breakfast treat with his spatula, before flipping it onto a tall stack.

_“Hope she’s hungry.”_ he thought to himself as he poured out some more batter _“I…might be making too much.”_

He glanced at the stack.

_“Maybe a triple batch is a little overkill.”_

 

* * *

 

Burnet shoved her face into the pillow, breathed in, and sighed. 

_“I’m so relaxed this morning. And this pillow smells amazing.”_

Her eyes were still closed, but she could tell it was a sunny day by the soft glow that managed to diffuse through her eyelids. She snuggled into the blanket. 

_“I should check the time and make sure I’m not gonna be late for work. Ugh, I am so. Relaxed.”_

She pawed under the pillow. No phone. 

She furrowed her eyebrows. 

Her eyes fluttered open…

Dark blue sheets? 

_“I don’t own any dark blue sheets. What the…”_

She glanced up to see a familiar hat hanging on a hook next to the door… 

She gasped.

After taking a few minutes to breathe her way out of a huge freakout, she pushed aside the blanket and slowly rolled out of bed. Her legs wobbled a bit as she took a few steps. 

_“Okay. So we…okay. It’s okay. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Keep it together, Burnet.”_

She leaned against a dresser. 

_“It’s just Kukui.”_

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was absolutely crazy and tousled, her face flushed…were there a few small hickeys on her shoulder? She poked at one and flinched at the sensitivity. 

_“Yup, I definitely got laid last night.”_

She swallowed.

_“Yup, Kukui definitely made you scream last night.”_

She put her face in her hands. 

“Breathe, breathe, breathe…”

She breathed… 

…and sniffed at the air. 

_“Is that…food? Breakfast?”_

She padded silently out of the room to investigate, mind still in a fog. She crept down the hallway, and poked her head around the corner.

“Makin’ pancakes, makin’ up some pancakes…” 

She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to not burst out in nervous giggles. 

Kukui was at the stove, and from the looks of it, was making enough breakfast to feed a small army. He was (of course) shirtless, and his hair was once again pulled back. 

Burnet sighed to herself dreamily and stared at him as he worked. 

_“Nice.”_

Apparently she’d sighed louder than she thought. 

Kukui jumped and spun around. 

They stared at each other as Burnet covered her mouth with a hand, and Kukui hid his face behind his spatula. 

He finally broke the awkward silence.

“I cooked you a few pancakes.” he said in a small voice. 

Burnet burst out in nervous giggles. 

The tense mood was broken when she raced across the room to jump into his arms. 

 

* * *

 

“I’ve eaten so much this week. We need to go into town today or something so I can walk it off.” 

“Sounds good. We need groceries, anyway.” 

“Not surprising. I think you used most of the food in this kitchen to make breakfast.” 

Kukui pouted teasingly. 

“…Which was amazingly delicious.” she added hurriedly. 

They spent the rest of the day lazily wandering around town, shopping, and running into too many friends and members of Kukui’s family.

(Burnet was amazed by how many cousins Kukui had).

(When she mentioned that to him, he burst out laughing). 

In any case, whenever they held hands it was hard to avoid an enthusiastic third-degree.

 

* * *

 

The second they got home, they ended up having a frantic and half dressed round two on the couch.

 

* * *

 

Kukui nuzzled his face into Burnet’s hair as they nestled in the blanket.

“This has all been really cool…but one of the best things about officially dating you is the cuddling.” 

Burnet laughed and lightly pressed the tip of her nose to his. 

“Hey, friends can do this sort of thing, too. We were pretty touchy-feely as friends, anyway.” 

“Oh yeah, I know. But I had a huge crush I thought was unrequited, and I didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable. It’d have been weird to say ‘Heya, Burnet, I’m feelin’ cuddly. Wanna jump in bed with me for a bit?’” 

Burnet’s heart fluttered. _“He has a huge crush on me…”_

“I probably would have combusted.” 

“Yeah, exactly.” 

She hummed and nestled her face into his shoulder. 

“I finally figured out why all your stuff smells so good…it’s your hair.” she mumbled. 

Kukui laughed. “I smell good?” 

“Uh-huh. Especially your hair.” 

He smiled dreamily and hugged her tighter.

 

* * *

 

They sat at the kitchen table the next morning, drinking coffee and munching on some leftover pancakes. 

Burnet was unusually quiet.

“Wanna swim today? I have some extra snorkeling gear you can borrow.” Kukui tried. 

“Okay. Sounds fun.”

She morosely picked at her food with her fork. 

“Is it not as good second day?” he asked.

“No. It’s good.” 

She took a small bite. 

“We…don’t have to swi-“ 

“IT’S FINE, KUKUI.” she snapped, before immediately covering her mouth with both hands and letting her fork drop to her plate with a deafening clatter.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…It’s not you.” she said, shaking her head hard. 

Kukui stared at her with wide eyes. 

“Woah…okay, that stung. Time to talk.” he said, getting up and gently grabbing her hand. He led them out the door, leaving behind a half-eaten breakfast. 

They ended up on the beach. 

“Spill?” he asked hesitantly after they had settled down in the sand. 

Burnet hugged her knees to her chest and stared out at the ocean. 

“I’m really sorry if I hurt your feelings just now. I’m really, really sorry.”

“A little. But I was mostly just shocked and you already apologized enough. It’s okay. I’m already over it.” 

She sat silently. 

“I’m about to barf a lot of feelings onto you so get ready.” she finally said. 

He waited. 

“This week has been amazing. I don’t want it to end. I’m about to go back to my cold, dark office where half the lights don’t work and they won’t be fixed until next month maybe, and no, you can’t just do it yourself because of liability reasons even though we have you work with way more dangerous stuff on a daily basis and you are totally capable of changing a stupid florescent bulb, and oh, we aren’t going to approve or fund any of your ideas because they’re too weird, and I’m barely keeping myself afloat career-wise, and I feel like I’m just chasing dreams both figuratively and literally, and I mean, the conference was great and good things might be coming in the future but everything I want still seems so far away, and I…” 

She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut. _“Don’t cry, don’t cry.”_

“…and I don’t wanna leave you tomorrow.” 

Kukui slowly put his arm over her shoulder. 

She took a deep, relieved breath. _“Phew. I kept it together.”_

“Sorry for dumping all that on you, and for yelling. I…” 

Her arm felt a bit wet. 

She glanced over to see Kukui silently crying into her shoulder. 

She burst into tears.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone you cried like a baby if you don’t tell anyone that I did.” 

Kukui sniffled a bit and rubbed at his red eyes with the back of his hand.

“Deal.” 

Burnet got up, offering an outstretched hand to him. He stared at her for a second before taking her hand and allowing her to help him up. 

“We’ll be fine, honey. I can video call you every day at lunch, yeah? That’ll be early evening for you.” 

“I guess I can take my dinner break whenever you call. Okay. We can snack together.”

“And if you need cheering up, I can send nudes?”

Burnet flushed a bright red and gasped up at him, outraged. He smiled sheepishly. 

“NOT AT WORK!” 

“I didn't hear you say not NOT at work.” 

She turned redder. 

“You’re not turning me down.” 

“Shut up.” 

“You’re still not turning me down.” 

“I’m going to call you at inopportune times and moan into your ear.”

Kukui’s face lit up. “Woah, that would be really hot, actually. Could you?” 

Her eyes bugged out as Kukui took off down the beach, laughing. 

“THAT’S IT. I’M GOING TO CALL YOUR ANNOYING BUTT EVERY SINGLE DAY.” 

“I’M GONNA SEND YOU SO MANY TASTEFUL NUDES.” 

They chased each other up and down the surf, kicking sand and water at each other until they were out of breath and laughing.

 

* * *

 

Burnet’s shoulders slumped a bit as the the automatic doors swished open. 

A slight pressure on her upper back made her look up. 

Kukui glanced at her and looked away. 

He rubbed his hand across her shoulder blades.

She squared her shoulders back up. 

They found her departure gate, still not saying much. 

Burnet took a deep breath and clutched at her bag with a slightly shaky fist. 

She looked into Kukui’s face. 

He looked away and slid his hands into his pockets. 

“Are you all set?” he asked quietly. “Got everything?” 

“Yeah.” 

“O-okay.” 

_“God his voice sounds so shaky.”_

Burnet got onto her tip toes and tucked a piece of hair behind Kukui’s ear. He squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Burnet, I’m…”

He huffed and pulled her into a shaky hug. 

“I’m gonna miss you so fucking much.”

_“Uh-oh, he’s about to cry. Gotta help him.”_

“Kukui. L-look at me.” 

He let her go and opened his eyes. 

Burnet gave him her biggest, most brilliant smile. 

“When you're saying good-bye to someone you love, you gotta show them one last smile!” she said in a small voice. 

Kukui took a deep breath…

…and gave her the biggest, most brilliant smile she had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...is it obvious my husband and I were in a LDR for two years? 
> 
> Hahahaha anyway, this is pretty much the end. I just have a short epilogue to add for chapter 11, and we're done. I'll probably also have a deleted scene or two and some more short stories to share, so don't worry. If you like this sappy/sexy stuff, it'll continue for a while! 
> 
> Anyway, so many thanks to everyone who left kudos, commented, or even just read this thing and silently enjoyed it. This is my first multi chapter fic, my first contribution to the Poke fandom (which, by the way, I've technically been in since I was a kid in 19freaking98), and just...it's been so much fun. Thank you all so much! 
> 
> And as always...
> 
> *Finger guns*


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Show me how you do that trick! The one that makes me scream," she said.  
> "The one that makes me laugh," she said.  
> And threw her arms around my neck.

Kukui flopped onto his computer chair. 

“I hope she gets home okay,” he said to Rocky, who hadn’t left his trainer's side since he had morosely slumped through the front door. “Should I call her tonight? I really wanna call her tonight. It’ll be late for her, though. But she’ll probably be awake? Maybe I should just text her?” 

Rocky cocked his head curiously. 

“She’s the one traveling. I’ll let her call me first,” Kukui finally decided reluctantly. 

He glanced at his monitors, and noticed for the first time that he had a new voice message. 

“Huh. Must’ve come in while I was on the boat.” 

He clicked it:

> TRANSCRIPT: 
> 
> Hi, Kukui. 
> 
> Soooo. I realized something. You’ve told me…uh, heh…you know…a bunch of times already, but I haven’t actually said it back yet.
> 
> I tried, but kept wimping out. And I don’t wanna leave without telling you. So…
> 
> I love you.
> 
> …oh no *she hangs up in a panic* 
> 
>  

Kukui wiped away a tear with the heel of his hand and grinned.

“I love you too,” he laughed to the empty room.

 

* * *

 

Burnet plopped her suitcase onto her bed with a huff. 

“Time to unpack. Yay.”

“ROOMIE'S BACK! ROOMIE'S BACK!” Juniper and Fennel chanted from the living room. 

"YES, SHE IS," Burnet yelled over her shoulder. "Cut it out! I've been sick of that since the airport!"  

"ROOMIE'S MAD! ROOMIE'S MAD!" 

Burnet laughed to herself as she unzipped her suitcase. She began pulling out wrinkled clothes and tossing them straight into her hamper.

A flash of red and white under the bodysuit caught her eye.

“What…?” 

She pushed the clothing aside to investigate. 

A large cotton bag with a cheerful floral print was hiding in the bottom of the suitcase. 

“What’s this?” she asked, before noticing an envelope was safety pinned to the outside. 

She opened it and a letter fell out:

 

> Heya, Honey!
> 
> I hope it’s alright that I snuck this into your luggage. I wanted to surprise you when you got home. :D 
> 
> One is to keep you warm in your office, one I picked up because it reminded me of you somehow, and one will hopefully make you miss me a little less! 
> 
> If you’re sad right now, feel free to call me if that’ll help. I hope you had a safe trip. Enjoy the stuff! :) 
> 
> I love you. 
> 
> -Kukui
> 
> P.S. Woulda included malasadas but I didn’t want ‘em to get crushed. 

Burnet slowly opened the bag’s drawstring. How had he snuck it in? How had he made it fit?…

She carefully upended it on her bed. 

A green blanket. An alolan ninetales plushie. A small travel bottle of shampoo.

Burnet grinned and hugged the plush fox for a moment. 

“I get it. You dork.” 

She picked up the blanket next. It was small, but thick and filled with some sort of down.

“This’ll be perfect. I’ll keep it on the back of my computer chair.”

She curiously investigated the bottle of shampoo.

“This is the only one I don’t get.”

She opened it, took a sniff…

…and almost cried.

Her pillow at the hotel…

The blanket in the living room… 

Kukui’s bed… 

The memories of that light, slightly spicy and woody scent hit her like a ton of bricks. 

_“It smells like him…”_

 

* * *

 

A year later, Burnet disembarked her flight with the same sore back and kink in her neck. 

The terminal was filled with the same excited vacation crowd, the air was still fresh and salty, and the same old suitcase rolled behind her as she rushed through the familiar gate, swiveling her head to look for…

…her colleague in science, her best friend, her crush, her love, came sprinting out of nowhere to scoop her up and spin her in dizzying circles… 

…before putting her down and dropping to a knee to nervously offer her a ring. 

 

** -The end- **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww is it really over? 
> 
> I wanted to do something kinda different for the last chapter, so I decided to record Burnet's voice mail! I used to do some voice acting back in the day, and it sounded like a fun idea! 
> 
> (Watch someone recognize me hee hee) 
> 
> In case the embedded player doesn't work for you, there's also a private soundcloud link right here! https://soundcloud.com/user-486149585/burnets-voice-mail/s-OIECC 
> 
> Pretty soon I'll have more stuff to share involving these two dorks. Thanks again for everything, guys. I really appreciate all of you who stuck it out and read the whole thing. I hope you had fun! I know I did. 
> 
> One last time...
> 
> *Finger guns*

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I'm actually doing this.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked chapter one. If you did, I have some very good news for you; most of this fic is already written! It's close to 15,000 words, and it is full of fluff and...other stuff. I only need to write a scene or two in chapter 11, and it's done. 
> 
> My posting schedule will be every Friday or Saturday evening and every Tuesday or Wednesday evening, until it's done. So if you're hurting for some Burnet/Kukui, hold on to your butt. 
> 
> It's gonna be a ride.


End file.
